Tale of the tape: Acer C720 Chromebook versus HP Chromebook 11

Not one but two new Chromebooks went on sale this week, the HP Chromebook 11 and, as of Thursday, the Acer C720 Chromebook. Both machines run Google's operating system, but how do they stack up?

Here's a quick breakdown:

Screen

Both laptops appear to be using the same if not very similar screens. They feature an 11.6-inch screen with 16:9 ratios and 1,366 by 768 pixel resolutions.

Size and weight

The two machines are also very similar in size and weight. The C720 Chromebook weighs 2.42 pounds and is 0.7 inches thick while the Chromebook 11 weighs in at a slightly lighter 2.3 pounds and just a tad thinner at 0.69 inches thick.

Processor

The HP Chromebook 11 uses an Exynos 5250 GAIA application processor while the C720 Chromebook uses Intel's new Haswell Celeron 2955U processor. Haswell processors are all the rage right now with Chromebook, and that's primarily because they are designed to be more battery efficient, which leads us to our next point...

Battery life

So far, the two computers have been very similar, but they start to differ with battery. The HP Chromebook 11 sports a six-hour battery life, which is respectable for any laptop, but the C720 Chromebook has an even longer-lasting battery life of 8.5 hours.

Slots

Users who like plugging in all sorts of things into their machines probably will prefer the C720 Chromebook. Acer's machine has a USB 2.0 port as well as a USB 3.0 port. There's also an HDMI port and an SD card slot.

The HP Chromebook 11 has two USB 2.0 ports. It's micro-USB port, which is used for charging, also doubles as a SlimPort video out.

Internal memory

Both laptops come with 16-gigabytes of internal storage, but the C720 Chromebook has 4 GB of RAM while the HP Chromebook 11 only comes with 2 GB of RAM.

Extra goodies

Users looking for extra goodies bundled with the device will prefer HP's device. The Chromebook 11 comes with 100 GB of cloud storage through Google Drive for two years, a 60-day free trial for Google Play Music All Access and 12 sessions of GoGo Inflight Internet.

The C720 Chromebook also comes with the 100 GB of Google Drive storage, but it only provides a 30-day trial for Google Play Music All Access. And it doesn't offer free GoGo Inflight Internet sessions.

Users who like color choices will also like the HP Chromebook 11. It comes in five different schemes. The C720 Chromebook only comes in a black/gray option.

Price

Acer's laptop is available for $249 while HP's sells for $279.

Bottom line

Both laptops are geared for teens and users who don't do much more than basic computing and surfing the Web. Selecting one over the other may really come down to how you like your laptop to look.